GvO procurement and the green electricity claim: a guide for businesses
Direct answer
Buying green electricity through GvO's means your supplier cancels a Guarantee of Origin for your consumption, a certificate proving that an equal amount of renewable power was generated elsewhere. In the Netherlands one GvO represents 1,000 kilowatt-hours. The purchase only makes your electricity credibly green if you check where the certificates come from and what you publicly claim about it.
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GvO procurement and the green electricity claim: scattered information versus Energy Intelligence
Many businesses in the Netherlands want to run demonstrably on green electricity, for their annual report, a tender or their own climate target. In practice you rarely buy that green electricity straight from a wind turbine. You buy ordinary grid electricity, and the green claim comes from certificates that prove the generation elsewhere. That works, but quality varies enormously. Anyone who picks the cheapest variant without thinking and then communicates about it loudly runs into the rules of the regulator ACM.
- In the Netherlands VertiCer, formed from CertiQ and Vertogas, issues the GvO's; your supplier cancels enough of them on your behalf to cover your consumption as green.
- Cheap foreign GvO's from existing hydropower plants add no extra greening; Dutch wind or solar, or your own generation, do give a real impulse.
- The Dutch regulator ACM prohibits vague or unproven green claims; back up what you say with facts about where your electricity comes from.
Insight
Traditional approach
Information is scattered across portals, documents, invoices or separate spreadsheets.
Modern approach
Data, context and interpretation are brought together into a clear decision picture.
Decision-making
Traditional approach
Choices are made based on averages, assumptions or occasional analyses.
Modern approach
Scenarios, KPIs and current measurement data make the trade-off more concrete and repeatable.
Follow-up
Traditional approach
Actions often stay non-committal or disappear into separate reports.
Modern approach
Follow-up actions, monitoring and reporting are linked to the same energy data.
How do you buy green electricity through GvO's?
A Guarantee of Origin, GvO for short, is a certificate proving that renewable electricity was generated somewhere. One GvO represents 1,000 kilowatt-hours from wind, solar, water or biomass. In the Netherlands VertiCer issues these certificates, the organisation formed from CertiQ and Vertogas. A producer receives GvO's for the amount of green electricity generated, which are then traded. When you buy a green electricity contract, your supplier cancels the matching number of GvO's for your annual consumption. That cancellation is the proof that your electricity counts as green. The physical electricity from the socket remains a mix; the certificate makes the administrative link.
- One GvO represents 1,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable generation.
- VertiCer, from CertiQ and Vertogas, is the Dutch issuing body.
- Your supplier cancels enough GvO's on your behalf to cover your consumption.
- The cancellation, not the physical electricity, underpins the green claim.
Why does the origin of the GvO's matter?
Not every green claim greens the grid equally. The supply of GvO's in Europe far exceeds demand, which makes certificates very cheap. Many Dutch green electricity products therefore rely on cheap foreign GvO's, especially from Scandinavian hydropower. Those plants have existed for a long time; your choice does not lead to a single extra kilowatt-hour of renewable generation. If you want your purchase to genuinely add something, choose Dutch wind or solar, or a supplier that visibly invests in new renewable generation. More direct still is your own generation or a power purchase agreement with a specific Dutch producer: then the link between your consumption and the source is demonstrable and far stronger than a loose certificate purchase.
- GvO supply exceeds demand, so certificates are cheap.
- Foreign hydropower from existing plants adds nothing extra.
- Dutch wind or solar does create an incentive for new generation.
- Own generation or a PPA is a more direct, stronger link than loose GvO's.
What may and may not you claim?
The regulator ACM supervises sustainability claims and has a guideline with five rules of thumb. Vague terms such as sustainable, green or climate-neutral are quickly misleading if you do not substantiate them. You must make concrete which benefit you claim and back it up with facts, kept up to date. The ACM has addressed energy suppliers on this before, which led to commitments to clarify their claims. In practice: you may state that you buy electricity certified as renewable with GvO's, and which source that is. Do not claim that cheap foreign certificates green the grid, or that your company is climate-neutral, if the substantiation for that is missing.
- The ACM guideline has five rules of thumb for sustainability claims.
- Vague terms without substantiation count as misleading.
- Make concrete which source and which certificate sit behind your claim.
- Do not claim extra greening or climate neutrality without evidence.
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